As a Leicester fan who’s seen just about every minute Mahrez has played for us I thought I’d sign up and give my views on the player you guys seem close to securing.
First of all, I’m pretty surprised that so many football fans (including those at LCFC) deem Mahrez to be lazy. I just don’t see that all, even when he’s clearly not been wanting to play for the club he’s always put the effort in. I think people see a player that is pretty weak in the tackle and generally poor at defending, but he has always at least fallen back into his defensive position when we don’t have the ball.
If (when) he eventually signs for Man City It’s obvious he won’t have quite so much to do defensively and will be able to concentrate on his attacking play for 90% of each game. He’s gonna do serious damage.
Even though he’s apparently been in a bit of a strop and underperformed (compared to the title winning season) for about 18 months his offensive stats since he became a regular starter are better than any other Premier League winger, most of which don’t play in a midfield 4 with all the defensive duties that Mahrez has been burdened by at City.
I’m seriously confused by how undervalued he is by fans everywhere. The £75m that Leicester are apparently asking for would be an absolute bargain. I can’t see how he’s not been snapped up yet. He could quite easily double his output of goals and assists by joining a team with better players around him who enjoy probably twice as much possession as Leicester are used to.
Literally every game the opposition doubles, or trebles up on Mahrez as they can afford to do so because there’s very few other areas from which we can create chances. That could never happen at MC as there’s just too much quality all over the pitch.
I think I’m right in saying that his direct competition for a starting spot when he joins will be Bernardo Silva and Raheem Sterling. 2 very good players, but I think the addition of Mahrez would take you to a whole new level (if that’s even possible). The thought of Sané on one wing and Riyad on the other is absolutely frightening.
I’m obviously a huge Mahrez fan but it has got to the point where I, and most other Leicester supporters think it’s time that this was put to bed. I do however, fully back our owners for holding out for what they feel is an acceptable offer. Like others have said, financially we don’t need to sell and I honestly think that the owners would rather he stayed with the hump than left for £60m.
Realistically a half arsed Mahrez is still going to come up with 20 odd goals and maybe as many assists over the next 2 years. The owners would probably rather have that and lose him for free than let him leave now for less than he’s worth. He’s simply irreplaceable for us.
I’m actually really looking forward to seeing what he can achieve for Man City. Obviously I’d prefer him to stay at Leicester but we all know that’s not going to happen. It’s no exaggeration that a happy Mahrez with that amount of quality around him could be the best player in the league. I still can’t believe we’ve held onto him and Vardy for so long, they’re both top quality. There’s been stats going around recently showing Vardy’s goals to chances ratio and Mahrez shooting (don’t know how they work that out) are the best in the Prem. Where would we be without them!?
It’s a massive shame Mahrez stay at Leicester has soured a little as he’s certainly the best player I’ve seen play for us in my 25 years following the club. Many with more games under their belt than me say he’s our best ever. His first touch is absolutely sublime, his dribbling is ridiculous and at times he just makes defenders look silly, his turn of pace and change of direction are unbelievable.
You’re getting one hell of a player, I just hope you end up paying a fair price for him. If he wasn’t kicking up a fuss or if he was playing for a more fashionable club or even if he was English, he’d be going for north of £100m.
Good luck for the season but let’s hope someone can at least make it interesting this time round!
